Political culture and ethnics practices of negotiation in Sonora.

Two examples of the first half of the nineteenth century

Abstract

This research explains the political culture and negotiation practices of Yaquis and Opatas in Sonora, Mexico; for this, it seeks to reveal the characteristics through discourses and show how their contents refer to a republicanism of Ancien Régime. The correspondence sent by the governor of Sonora José Urrea, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as from indigenous chiefs and Captain General is analyzed. The results show that the traits of the political culture of the indigenous people, referred according to their contents to a classical republicanism. As a part of the semantics used the demand of pardons, the declaration of fidelity to the State and the laws of the Republic predominate. In this sense, peace was negotiated with state authorities, which allowed their existence as a differentiated group of mestizo society to survive, which implicitly recognized them as groups with particular identity and interests.